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27.3.13

House Tour - Our Kitchen

I've been meaning to share with you snippets of my house for quite a while, the only problem is this involves something I'm not great at...cleaning. So to combat this I am going to show you sneak peeks of each room rather than full shots (heaven forbid I actually tidy the whole place ;))
So here it is, our kitchen. To say it has been a labour of love would be be something of a lie, it's been a labour of stress/angst and finally three years after we first moved in, love. The kitchen when we first bought our place was liveable but hugely dated, on top of that the previous owners had tried to bodge jobs here and there to make it look more presentable but ultimately just make more of a mess and more work correcting the issues. Our kitchen floor for example was stuck down with spray adhesive (the kind that says in big bold letters 'not for vinyl tiles') at times we were able to laugh at the randomness of the previous DIY but at times it was just baffling!
We had looked into getting out kitchen completely ripped out and redone but finances were tight and by the time quotes had been arranged I was pregnant and due to time scales and costs it just wasn't an option. Instead we were lucky enough to have the help of one of Tom's oldest friends come visit and together they re-did our kitchen. By this time I was eight months pregnant, we knew that it was now or never and we had been living with mats on a uneven concrete floor for the past year. I didn't want to be living in the same way once our baby was born and we were also aware that finances would only get tighter and renovating with a baby in the house even harder.
Doing the kitchen ourselves did give us the freedom to really put our own stamp on it however. Tom and I are both big fans of 1950's style kitchens and if we didn't have a galley way kitchen we would have loved some stand alone units. We did mange to find this incredible vintage dresser from Ebay however who were willing to deliver (the only problem with not driving is I find we often miss out on great finds as we can't pick them up!). I think it really makes our kitchen and we were even luckier to find it in our favourite colour, turquoise!

Tom has this endearing/annoying habit of needing to sing whenever ever he does anything (and especially when cooking) but without something to sing along too he resorts to making up songs about me..I'm glad to say this radio has almost put a stop to that and aesthetically looks very pleasing on our dresser.

As you can see most of the rest of our kitchen is very bright! We are not fans of subtle colour and you wont find many pastels in our home, its all about the brights! The candelabra was an item I bought back when I had finished university, I loved it for its gypsy style brights. My then boyfriend was really not a fan so I knew I was on to a winner when Tom not only liked it but bought me the matching chandelier for my birthday!
The vintage pans are from my Granny and I always count myself lucky to have been able to have been the one who inherited them. I get so many comments about them whenever I post pictures of them, I believe the design was also made onto items other than pans but have yet to stumble across any.
One of the parts I love about our kitchen so much is it really looks lived in, we have magnets and tokens stuck to our fridge and our cupboards are far from ordered but instead include a variety of exciting colours, bowls and jars.
When we were discussing the things that were most important to us in terms of our 'dream' kitchen my single 'must have' was gas hobs. Whenever I have moved into a place having gas hobs over electric was a deal breaker. Tom even tried to convince me that a induction hob would be the way forward, a few hysterical tears were shed by me on that one (ridiculous I know but I was pregnant).When our weekly trip to IKEA's bargain corner (don't judge we live really close and they have delicious luminous cakes) meant we came across a nice looking ex display gas cooker for just that bit cheaper, it also cleans itself although we haven't quite worked out how yet!

What I love most about our kitchen is it is really 'us' from the bright mix match colours to the vintage pans and odd mugs. Sure it would be great if it was a little bigger but I love it! Some of my favourite moments are in our kitchen, me cooking or stacking the dishwasher and Wilf pulling all the pots and pans out of the cupboards or 'helping' me with the laundry.
What is your kitchen like? Did you like me decide to completely renovate at a impractical time? (I know my friend Wendy did exactly the same as me). If you have done any kind of kitchen tour on your blog please post a link below, I LOVE nosing into people's homes :)p.s if you wondering what our kitchen looked like before I have some insta pics here and here of the renovating process, it's amazing just how much we had to throw away.

I am not doing a total renovation, but am planning to entirely repaint our kitchen and Sometime this spring. Which may be a bad idea, considering the fact that I am currently pregnant! I will be posting a kitchen to her once we finish the job.

You have a lovely kitchen! Dont worry I have also cried over an cooker! The oven in our old house really scared me! I am the opposite, I dont like gas - Its a long story involving someone singeing their arm hair!Here is my kitchen if you fancy a nosey. http://www.usingmyloaf.co.uk/finally-our-new-kitchen-is-revealed/

I need to take pictures too. We also have vintage radios in our kitchen, real ones, one from the 30s that we bought and one from the 60s that we got given as a wedding present. The sixties one even works but they're just decoration really.

Such a pretty kitchen! I'm not into cooking at all, but I think my motivation to cook my pasta would be much higher in a place like that. :) Instead, coping with extremely messy housemates and a mouse in the kitchen (which could be cute if it happened in a children's book and not real life).

Oooh, I love it! Love the pans and dresser too! We can't have gas as it would cost too much to get the pipes in :-( We bought our house last year and moved in 6 weeks before we had our 2nd baby (Olive) I went in to crazy pregnant lady mode painting everything in sight! We're just about to start our kitchen... it's very small so I'm thinking of taking off the cupboard doors and having everything open...i'll share a link once we've finished! I think we have very similar style! :-)

You have so many gorgeous bits and bobs. Love your dresser too! By the way, I am a huge fan of gas hobs too. We have an electric one now (gas is not very common in South Africa) but as soon as we commit to buying our own place we will definitely be getting a gas hob! x

Emmi - Haha yer I had visions of a cute little mouse sitting on the side nibbling cheese as you chatting about your day..I know the reality is a bit different we also have a similar problem at the moment..no sign of a mouse but we can hear it/them.. x

Jenna - Thats a great idea! We have cupboards with the doors off to great a similar illusion but I often think shelves would look nicer. We originally thought about having our cooker on the other side of the kitchen but couldn't because of the pipes thing. Would love to see your kitchen when its done up! x

I love all the elements in your kitchen because it seems like an awesome place to come in for a tea. I especially love the vintage elements best. The aqua colour of that hutch really compliments the vintage pieces.

Ps. love that fame with the quote about hot chocolate and Battlestar galactica. xxBonnie Rose | A Compass Rose